Do you know the Bible account of Jesus’ birth? If not, I encourage you to read it in Luke chapter 2. It involves a census, a trip to Bethlehem for a very pregnant woman named Mary and her fiancé (Joseph), and the birth of the Savior in some really lowly conditions. Wow!

But boy do I wonder what prayers Mary and Joseph were praying as they started for Bethlehem. If Mary was anything like me, she was praying:

Help us get there safely.

Let us get there before the baby is born.

Don’t let me forget anything I need.

Help us find a place to stay when we arrive.

I’m guessing the stable, cave, or section of the house where animals were kept where Mary eventually gave birth was not on her birth plan. And I don’t imagine her birth plan listed the group of shepherds straight from the fields who arrived to behold the child that was hours old.

It’s hard when expectations don’t match reality, when the plans we thought we could control suddenly are out of control. It’s hard because we want to imagine we know God’s plans for our lives, and we want his plans to match our own.

And yet in his sovereign will, God often brings us to places we don’t want to be. And in the middle of the mess, it’s easy to think God has left the building, the situation, and us and forgotten there was a plan.

And yet he hasn’t. A lot of times it’s only as we look back, sometimes years later, that we see just what he was doing. And sometimes we just have to trust he was there even when we can’t see how.

When things start falling apart, there are three things I’ve come to rely on to get my bearings.

1. Christian speaker and writer Corrie ten Boom said: “I have learned to hold on to all things loosely so that God will not have to pry them out of my hands.” We have so little control, so it’s good to know and understand what is forever and what is not. Jobs come and go. Friends move away. People die, and one day it will be our turn to die too. God’s Word and promises are constant. They stand even when other things fade. God is always there, whether or not we see or feel it.
2. God sees and knows the particulars of the situation. Sometimes things happen that seem unfair. Some people don’t care. Some people don’t have our best interest in mind. God sees our hearts. As God’s people, we honor him when we choose to love, forgive others, and trust that God has a plan. He knows and understands the whole situation, even when we don’t.
3. Everything can change in an instant. Most of us recall a time when things suddenly were considerably worse. If things haven’t been going well, it’s good to remember that in an instant, things can also get considerably better. Hang on.

We all experience crazy times. Life in a sinful world assures us they will come. But when we get through the chaos and look back, often God opens our eyes to see his provision.

The gospel writer Matthew wanted us to remember this. He wrote, “‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’)” (1:23).

God With Us is such a beautiful name. It’s an even more beautiful reminder that God is with us always and forever—here in the craziness of life in this world and eventually, thankfully, in eternity with him forever.